Morning Word: OT for state workers balloons

And the rest of New Mexico's news...

Rep. Luciano “Lucky” Varela, D-Santa Fe, said he’s concerned about the trend. He questioned why some state agencies in Gov. Susana Martinez’s administration have not been using the full amount of money appropriated to them by the Legislature for filling vacant jobs.

You can only run overtime for an individual for so long before they start burning out,” said Varela, chairman of the Legislative Finance Committee.

I had called Webber a few months ago to sit down and see what he was all about. He never called to make the appointment which makes me believe his organization wasn't functioning yet, I guess. Gary King and Rael have called. King wants money and Rael wants to talk over ideas.

"If you had to sum it up, it would just be the switch from the extreme drought to wet," he said. "It's always a collection of extremes, and this year was magnified."

Jones spent part of his Christmas shift crunching numbers. He found that about a dozen days of moisture in July and September accounted for nearly three-quarters of Albuquerque's total rainfall this year.

The Air Force discovered in 1999 that fuel had been leaking, likely for decades, from underground pipes at its Kirtland aircraft fueling station. A New Mexico Environment Department scientist later estimated that as much as 24 million gallons may have spilled over the years. In 2007, Air Force environmental workers found fuel floating on the water table some 500 feet beneath the base, and in subsequent years workers have found contaminated groundwater beneath southeast Albuquerque neighborhoods, a mile from the spill’s source and moving in the direction of Albuquerque drinking water wells. The New Mexico Environment Department recently estimated the spill is within 5 to 7 years of reaching the nearest drinking water well. An independent review by scientists with the federal Centers for Disease Control last summer concluded that the risk to public health is low, but that the only way to prevent exposure might be to shut down some Albuquerque drinking water wells.

The Bureau of Land Management is looking to sell thousands of acres that no longer meet the agency’s mission or are landlocked. Powell hopes to acquire some of the land, especially parcels along the interstates around Las Cruces and in the oil- and gas-rich Permian Basin of southeastern New Mexico. “We’re interested in high-value property that could be used for commercial purposes and would earn money for our beneficiaries,” Powell said.

Sen. Michael S. Sanchez, D-Belen, is sponsoring legislation, Senate Bill 1, to give the State Land Office $250,000 over the next two years to study the feasibility of BLM land acquisitions. The bill will be considered in the Legislature’s 30-day session, which focuses on budgetary matters and begins Jan. 21.

Yesterday was the final Sunday of the year. So you know what that means: The annual Cowchip Awards from the Albuquerque Journal.

New Mexico fast food chain Blake's Lotaburgers are ubiquitous throughout New Mexico. But now the chain is expanding to outside the state. A location will open in El Paso in early January -- and a second is going to the Texas city in the spring.